One of the coveted credentials for law enforcement officers who wish to advance their careers is to graduate from a 10-week course at the FBI 's national academy in Quantico, Va. On Friday, the bureau announced the names of four new graduates from South Florida: Col. Jack Dale of the Broward County Sheriff's Office; Capt. Jose Seiglie of the Doral Police Dept.; Capt. Javaro Sims of the Delray Beach Police Dept. and Capt. Wesley Starling of the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

South Florida suffered profound losses this weekend when three law enforcement officers were killed in separate vehicle crashes. At a time when residents have watched with alarm as a number of police officers have been cut down by gunfire in the line of duty, the weekend's accidents are a tragic reminder that, as scary as gun violence is, accidents are a far more common threat to public servants and private citizens alike. In fact, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Michelle Lawless was the only one of the three to die on duty.

Paying for Palm Beach County 's increasing law enforcement costs threatens to leave roads and other public facilities crumbling, according to county officials facing another budget squeeze. And it's a money crunch expected to get worse as salary and benefits costs continue to rise for Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office employees, according to county budget planners. Despite a recovering economy boosting tax revenues, the county faces a potential budget shortfall worsened by Sheriff Ric Bradshaw's proposed $32 million spending increase.

Three days after watching her father shot and killed, 12-year-old Gabriela Pettit hesitantly walked toward the podium. In front of her were 500 people, many law enforcement officers coming to pay respect to her father, Donald Pettit, who died Tuesday morning in what police are calling a road rage incident. Gabriela eyed the podium, quietly sobbed and then buried her head in her mother's arms. She couldn't do it. Instead, her mother, Ileana Pettit, read the letter, titled, "Why dad is a hero."

A fisherman who tried to illegally sell a giant bluefin tuna that he'd caught while daytime swordfishing off South Florida this past June and the person who was given the tuna to sell have been assessed heavy fines for their transgressions. NOAA Fisheries issued civil violations totaling $27,500 to the two men. That's some expensive sushi. A Notice of Violation and Assessment of Administrative Penalty was sent to David Fidel, of Boynton Beach , who was fined $12,500 for violating the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act "by selling or transferring or attempting to sell or transfer, for commercial purposes, an Atlantic tuna, shark or swordfish other than to a dealer that has a valid dealer permit.

The Florida Highway Patrol trooper at the center of firestorm after she pulled over a speeding cop at gunpoint said fellow law enforcement officers have created a "life-threatening" situation that caused her to be in such fear for her safety she has become a "hermit. " Trooper Donna "Jane" Watts' 69-page lawsuit, filed in federal court Friday, seeks more than $1 million in damages. She is suing more than 100 police officers and agencies, and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Florida's texting-while-driving ban went into effect with great hoopla in October, but records show only 32 citations were issued in Broward through December 31. The law is meant to make roads safer by keeping drivers from being distracted. But in Florida, drivers can only be cited if they are stopped for another offense. "I knew as a secondary offense it would be extremely difficult for law enforcement officers to enforce," said state Sen. Maria Sachs, D- Delray Beach , who has introduced a bill to make it a primary offense.

The Police Benevolent Association sent a nasty gram using a word game in its quarterly newsletter to Florida Governor Rick Scott after getting fed up after Scott and his staff never acknowledged their repeated requests to submit a guest article for their newsletter, reports the Bradenton Herald. Now the union is urging members to write or call Governor Rick Scott and to ask the Governor how he feels about law enforcement officers. The newsletter added: "If you would like to know what we really think of the governor and the staff member who refuses our requests, go back to page four and write down the first letter of each paragraph.

Police agencies call it "public education. " Drivers call it entrapment. But no matter what you call it, the 'Move Over' campaign is about to get more aggressive, spreading from highways and crowded roadways to such places as inside state parks. The Florida Highway Patrol jump-started its enforcement effort early this month, and a series of other agencies are planning to join them in February. Motorists who don't move to another lane away from a stopped patrol car, emergency vehicle or tow truck will be handed a $165 ticket.

A man who was posing as a law enforcement officer and conducting traffic stops in Wellington was caught by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, according to a news release. Kevin Smith, 22, was arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer on Friday. Deputies said between 4 and 4:30 a.m., Smith pulled over two vehicles while he pretended to be a law enforcement officer. They said he was driving a red Crown Victoria, was wearing blue jeans and a black vest and had a badge hanging from his neck, according to the release.

A Special Olympics torch ran the length of Broward County thanks to more than 200 police officers and eight Special Olympics athletes on Thursday. The Broward Law Enforcement Torch Run, which aims to raise awareness of and funds for the Special Olympics, spanned 32 miles from Hallandale Beach to Deerfield Beach. The run was one of a series of awareness events and fundraisers that officers from the Broward Sheriff's Office and other agencies have done since January for the Special Olympics.

A "combative" woman who was pulled over by Boynton Beach police was Tasered after she hit and kicked officers, police said. Mary Esnard, 55, of Lake Worth, also swore at officers, honked her horn continuously, and rolled up her window while an officer wrote up a traffic citation, according to a Boynton Beach police arrest report. Esnard was pulled over in the Nickels Boulevard and Old Boynton Road area Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. for a traffic control device infraction, which refers to violations involving traffic lights or road signs.

Cops and civilians interested in police work will want to know about the screening of a documentary in Sunrise on Thursday. " Heroes Behind the Badge: Sacrifice & Survival ," the second in a series, will be shown at the Sunrise Civic Center & Arts Theater, 10610 W. Oakland Park Blvd. at 7 p.m. The film shows law enforcement officers who were shot on the job, and what it was like for those who survived the gunfire. Executive producer Bill Erfurth knows the subject well.

Charlie Crist, who's seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, won't debate primary rival Nan Rich. Speaking to reporters before a Tuesday fundraiser, Crist was direct when asked - twice - if he expected to debate Rich. "I don't," he said both times. "This is not a race really about candidates. This is a race about people of our state: about teachers, about law enforcement officers, about firefighters. People that, in my opinion, have not been honored the way they deserve to be honored.

Florida's texting-while-driving ban went into effect with great hoopla in October, but records show only 32 citations were issued in Broward through December 31. The law is meant to make roads safer by keeping drivers from being distracted. But in Florida, drivers can only be cited if they are stopped for another offense. "I knew as a secondary offense it would be extremely difficult for law enforcement officers to enforce," said state Sen. Maria Sachs, D- Delray Beach , who has introduced a bill to make it a primary offense.

Seat belt law? Does that include seat belts on school buses? If not, why not? There should be no exceptions in preventing injuries. It's bad enough that 90 percent of drivers do not use their signals upon turning and changing lanes -- including law enforcement officers.

A routine traffic stop took a bizarre turn when the driver told law enforcement officers, "I don't want to freak you out, but I have someone in the trunk. " Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were administering a sobriety test last week after stopping the driver at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Hollywood. They had noted an open beer container and alcohol on his breath, according to their report. After the driver's statement, they immediately handcuffed him. Inside the trunk, they found a man alive and well.

Twice a month on average, a South Florida officer shoots and kills someone. In Broward County , every fatal police shooting goes before a grand jury to determine if it was a legal use of deadly force. From March to September this year, grand jurors heard five such cases. All were found to be justifiable homicides. In keeping with a national trend, the killings of felons by law-enforcement officers in the line of duty statewide have risen from 20 in 2000 to 69 in 2012, records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show.